Cattle gutter guard



July 9, 1946.

A. HARDRATH, sR., E-rAL CATTLE GUTTER GUARD Filed Jan; 29, 1944V ATTD R N EYE Patented July 9, 17946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE f Albert Hardrath, Sr.,

Unity, Wis.; said Alb and Albert Hardrath, Jr., ert Hardrath, Jr., assignor to said Albert Hardrath, Sr.

Application January 29, 1944, Serial No. 520,278

2 Claims.

The invention relates to a guard and more especially to gutter guards for cattle or other animals.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of a guard of this character, wherein animals, more particularly dairy cows will be frustrated from stepping into a gutter built in cow pens or stallsy and in this manner the cows are kept in a clean and healthy condition, the guard being of unique and novel construction.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a guard of` this character, wherein the working thereof is automatically elected through the tread action of cattle, that is cows, within a pen or stalls, without injury to such cows, and relieves the cattle from stepping into the gutter into the droppings of the said cattle.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a guard of this character, which is simple in construction, reliable, eicient and effective in operation, strong, durable, quick acting, assured of operation, and inexpensive to manufacture and install.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more Afully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which shows the preferred embodiment of the invention, and pointed out in the claims hereunto appended.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a gutter to a cow stall, showing the guard constructed in accordance with the invention installed therein.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical transverse sectional view thereof, the full lines therein showing the normal position of the guard and the dotted lines showing the actuated position thereof.

Figure 3 is a detail View of the treadle connection with the striker yoke of the guard.

Similar reference characters indicate correspending parts throughout the several views in the drawing.

Referring to the drawing in detail A designates generally a portion of the gutter formation to a stall for a cow and is located as usual at the entrance to such stall, while B denotes generally the guard constituting the present invention and hereinafter described in detail.

The guard B comprises a sectional horizontally disposed base frame I 0, having the risers II in opposite side portions thereof, the section I2 of this frame I U being adjustably connected at i3 to its other section, so as to have the base frame 2 I0 snugly engage in the gutter A at the bottom or iloor thereof and be held in this horizontal position.

Rising from this frame I0, next to the section I2 is an inverted substantially L-shaped bracket I4 having pivoted thereto at I5 treadle arms I6 carrying a treadle I'I for vertical swinging movement directly over the risers II to have the treadle I1 adjacent to the entrance to the stall, so that when the cow therein steps backwards therefrom it will tread thereon for depressing such treadle for the automatic operation of the guard.

Swingingly connected to the risers II at I9 are the side limbs I8, of a striking yoke 20, which is of substantially U-formation, having curved terminal portions 2I at the pivots I 9, and each of these portions is formed with a slotted extension 22 in which is adjustably connected at 23 a contact roller 24, which engages the under side of the treadle I1 for minimizing friction during the striking action of the striker yoke when operated by the said treadle.

The yoke 20 at its closed end which is the striking end thereof is fitted with a resilient roller 25, although it may be non-resilient, so that when the yoke is moved to striking position with relation to a cow the blow will not injure the latter.

'I'he bracket I4 will serve as a handle part for the easy transportation of the guard and in placement thereof within a gutter. The guard is hand portable.

With the guard in place in a gutter the full line position of the same in Figure 2 of the drawing is the normal position of the same, and when a cow backs from the stall its hind foot treads onto the treadle I'I and the weight of the cow depresses the said treadle which in turn operates the striking yoke 2U causing it to fly upwardly for delivering a striking blow to the said cow, which results in the cow moving into the stall and from and out of the gutter A. 'Ihis operation is repeated each time the cow backs upon the treadle I'I and in this fashion the cow is frustrated from backing into the gutter.

When the weight of the cow is relieved from the treadle I1 the guard striking yoke returns to normal position.

The adjustment of the rollers 24 is in accordance with the height of the treadle I1 with respect to the frame I0.

The treadle I'I at the edge next to the yoke 20 is fitted with a leaf spring 26 for the contact of the latter therewith when it is moved to striking position, and thus the leaf spring 2B cushions the impact or blow thereof upon the animal.

What is claimed is:

1. A guard of the kind described, comprising a base having an adjustable section, a striking yoke pivotally supported by the base, a depressible treadle carried by the base for operating the striking yoke, and adjustable oontactzrrollers on the yoke for engaging the under side of the treadle.

2. A guard of the kind described, comprising a base having an adjustable section, a striking yoke pivotally supported by the base, a depressible treadle carried by the base for operating the striking yoke, adjustable contact rollers on the yoke for engaging the under side of the treadle, and a roller carried by the yoke for engaging an lanirnaiwhen struck byzthe Said yoke.

ALBERT HARDRATH, Sn. ALBERT HARDRA'IH, JR. 

